Week 37: Sorted

By: Martha | May 21st, 2007

Il Senor Figo A week before the end of the season, things at the top of the table have finally been solidified: Inter (who reached a record 94 points), Roma, Lazio and Milan are headed into the Champions League, while Empoli, Fiorentina and Palermo nailed down their UEFA Cup spots yesterday. The only question going into the weekend was for the last UEFA Cup spot and, given Palermo’s epic struggles, it wasn’t out of the question for Atalanta to sneak into seventh and send Palermo supporters in search of giant bottles of pills. What happened, though, was something else entirely: Palermo played almost-awesome for their returnee coach (despite supposedly not liking him much) while Atalanta took only a point off Inter, leaving them four points out of seventh. Though there is room for movement among the UEFA Cup clubs, no matter what happens, Atalanta will end their season at least a point from Europe. Sad.

At the other end of the table, however, there is still everything to play for, with five teams still not safe from relegation, and the accusations of corruption are already starting — next weekend is going to be chaos. Among the bottom clubs, the best results were achieved by Chievo and Cagliari, both of whom managed the full three points (the former against Ascoli, the latter, impressively, from Roma); Reggina, for their part, achieved a miraculous — and crucial — point when they came back from 3-0 down at Empoli. They’re still, however, far from safety, tied with Siena on 37 points in the final relegation spot. Just above them are Catania on 38 and then Parma and Chievo on 39, all of whom remain in danger. Catania and Chievo meet next weekend in what, depending on how things are going for Reggina (hosting a second-string Milan) and Siena (home to Lazio), will either be frighteningly intense or mind-bendingly careful, if both teams need just a draw to survive. Catania, meanwhile, travel to hapless Ascoli, while Parma host Empoli, who they’re surely hoping will roll over for them like they did for Reggina.

Full results are after the jump.

Atalanta - Inter 1-1: Why yes, that was Luis Figo, finding the back of the net. Yeah, I thought he’d forgotten where it was, too.
Cagliari - Roma 3-2
Chievo - Ascoli 1-0
Empoli - Reggina 3-3
Lazio - Parma 0-0
Messina - Fiorentina 2-2: Were Messina not already relegated, I’d find this result as suspicious as the Empoli-Reggina one. Since they are, however, it seems the Viola just collapsed in the last five minutes. Given their opponents, that’s sort of embarrassing.
Milan - Udinese 2-3: Forget the loss, Billy Costacurta scored in his farewell match. Does anything else really matter?
Palermo - Siena 2-1
Sampdoria - Catania 1-0
Torino - Livorno 0-0